Cruisers
Cruisers are medium sized surface combatants, which use medium caliber guns for armament. They can operate as either independent vessels, or as companion warships escorting larger capital ships. They are also used for leading squadrons and flotillas of lesser ships. All Japanese cruisers (With the exception of Ooyodo) have torpedoes, while only American light cruisers have torpedoes. American heavy cruisers do not have torpedo launchers. Real World Information The term “cruiser” originally referred not to a particular type of warship, but to any ship tasked with certain tasks. The mission types known as “cruising” were: commerce raiding, escorting merchant shipping, scouting for enemy battle fleets, carrying messages and other tasks requiring independent action at great ranges. The ships usually assigned to these tasks were those ships which were both more dispensable than ships of the line, and capable of long ranged operations. The ships which did these missions were called “cruising warships” and were most often frigates or sloops-of-war. As technology developed, cruisers became larger, faster, and better armed, though their roles remained the same. By WW1, the cruiser could be placed on a consistent scale in terms of size, larger than destroyers, and smaller than battleships. The Washington naval treaty formally defined cruisers in terms of both armaments and displacement with a maximum armament of 8 inch guns and a maximum displacement of 10,000 tons, unlike battleships and aircraft carriers however, the total numbers or tonnage of cruisers were not limited by the first Washington naval treaty. This proved contentious throughout the 1920’s as all signatories built as many “treaty cruisers” as possible, leading to a cruiser race. In the 1930’s the London naval treaty further refined the terminology, separating cruisers with guns larger than 6.1 inches from cruisers with smaller armaments. The former ships were considered heavy cruisers, which were limited in terms of both total tonnage and number built. The latter were considered light cruisers and were only limited in terms of total tonnage. As a result, all signatories constructed light cruisers armed with large numbers of 6 inch guns giving them the theoretical effectiveness of heavy cruisers armed with larger 8 inch guns. Germany was not a signatory to any of the above naval treaties instead, German naval strength was limited by the treaty of Versailles. Under the treaty ships such as the Deutschland class were labeled, Panzerschiffe ("armored ships") The Treaty of Versailles gave no limit to armaments but forbade ships larger than 10,000 tons displacement. The rules were frequently skirted of outright flouted during the interwar period as many nations lied about the displacements of their ships to appear to be in line with the various treaties. In World War 2, cruisers saw extensive action in every maritime theater. Cruisers acted as escorts, raiders, torpedo boats, destroyer flotilla leaders, shore bombardment weapons, and even as troop transports during the war. Modern cruisers are currently in service only two nations: the USA, and Russia. The Peruvian BAP Almirante Grau was the last gun cruiser in active service with any navy on earth until it was retired from the Peruvian Navy in 2017. In Game Cruisers make good early level ships for players early in the game. They are a step up from Destroyers, but still don't cost a huge amount of resources. Because cruiser armour is usually relatively thin, the cost of armouring a cruiser is considerably lower than a battleship or other large warship. Cruisers should be played as medium surface vessels. They are generally fast enough to keep pace with destroyers and are armed well enough to face them head on. Due to smaller Guns and light armor, cruisers rarely win against battleships in a head on engagement. In such a fight it is best to use superior agility and speed to cross the enemy, attack with torpedoes if possible, otherwise, close to minimum range and hope to win with fast firing guns. In fleets with battleships, carriers, destroyers, and submarines, Cruisers make credible escorts, as they can be effective in knocking out most destroyers and PT boats and can sport reasonable AA batteries. suggested size, weapons, and role in battle are generally determined by type, as a general rule however, cruisers are larger and better armed than destroyers, but more weakly armed and smaller than battleships. Heavy cruisers may pack weaponry as large as the 32cm guns, but usually pack armaments in the 8 inch range. Light cruisers might pack guns up to the 8 inch gun but are more commonly packing the 6 inch family of guns, with some historical light cruisers being armed with 12.5 cm guns in large quantities. Cruisers are the largest ships which typically carry torpedoes, these can be effective if unreliable weapons in game and allow small ships a chance at destroying battleships. One major advantage of the cruiser is that it is the smallest ship capable of easily sporting heavy AAA guns such as the 5 inch AAA, this allows these ships to be formidable threats to carriers as they are often fast enough to run them down, but protected enough to withstand air attacks. Sub-Types though cruisers are generally separated into two principal types, Heavy cruisers, and Light cruisers, there have historically been numerous types of cruisers beyond this, which can be defined by size, combat role, or weapons carried. Light Cruiser (CL - Cruiser Light) Light cruisers are multirole surface vessels which are generally tasked with AA escort duties. They are also often used as flotilla leaders for destroyers. AA cruisers are generally light cruisers. They are categorized by high combat speed, small size, and reasonable agility. Most light cruisers carry 12.7cm (5") guns to 15.5cm (6") guns. Torpedo Cruiser (CLT - Cruiser Light Torpedo) Torpedo cruisers are light cruisers refitted to carry an extensive torpedo armament. The only known ships of this type are the three Japanese torpedo cruisers Kitakami, Ooi and Kiso. Only the Japanese navy used torpedo cruisers in real life. Kitakami carried 40 torpedoes, 20 on each side. Heavy Cruiser (CA - Cruiser Armored) Heavy cruisers are designed to escort battlecruisers, battleships, and aircraft carriers, as well as hunt any lesser ships such as light cruisers and other heavy cruisers. Heavy cruisers carry heavier weapons and usually a heavier broadside than light cruisers (Discounting torpedoes), and they carry guns as small as 15.2cm to 20.3cm. WWI and before they were known as Armored Cruisers. Aviation Cruiser (CAV - Cruiser Aviation) Aviation cruisers are a sub-sub class of heavy cruisers. Construction of these cruisers began with the Swedish cruiser Gotland and the Tone-class cruisers. During WW2, aviation cruisers sacrificed main armament for larger hangar capacity. Modern aviation cruisers carry helicopters instead of seaplanes. One of the more iconic examples of this ship type is the Kiev class aviation cruiser, which can launch helicopters and VTOL aircraft. Anti Air Cruiser (CLAA - Cruiser Light Anti-air) Anti-aircraft cruisers are cruisers either built or refitted to defend a fleet from enemy aircraft. They are armed to the teeth with anti-aircraft and DP guns, and often have a significantly better fire direction system. Examples of purpose-built AA cruisers would be the American Atlanta class and British Dido-class; examples of converted AA cruisers would be the Japanese heavy cruiser Maya. Modern day equivalent would be CG or CGN. Battlecruisers (CC - Battlecruiser) Battlecruisers are capital warships which are similar in size to battleships and are generally similarly armed. They are essentially battleships with less armor, and greater speed. Though they are originally the successor to the armored cruiser, battlecruisers evolved into ships that are cruisers in name only, generally being far closer to a battleship than to cruisers in both design, role, and capability. Famous examples of battlecruisers are the pre-1914 Kongou-class, Hood, and Scharnhorst-class. Guided Missile Cruiser (CG - Cruiser Guided Missile) Guided missiles began to appear after the end of WW2. After the war, various nations began using guided missiles in place of guns on their ships. During the aftermath of the war, the US refitted existing Baltimore-class heavy cruisers into guided missile cruisers, while the Soviets built their own missle cruisers, the Kynda-class. These cruisers is armed with rocket launchers, then the VLS. Designed to escort a carrier or a battleship in a Carrier/Battleship Battle Group, and leading Destroyers and (in some cases) Frigates. Large Cruisers (CB - Large Cruiser) Large Cruisers are larger or more put Heavier than Most Heavy Cruisers as the Alaska-class was one of the Large Cruisers (although in Military Records its Called a "Cruiser Killer"). They are often confused as battlecruisers, but they are more armored than battlecruisers, though they carried similar main battery guns (If you consider a 12" gun similar to 14"). = Category:Ship Type Category:Game Related